Hubbard new member of the Group Grimaud La Corbiere - EUROPE - Group Grimaud La Corbiere, SA has announced last week that they have completed the purchase of Merial’s subsidiary Hubbard, one of the world’s leading Broiler Breeding Companies. The transaction, concluded on March 25th, took the form of a sale of stock of Hubbard SAS (France), Hubbard LLC (USA) and Hubbard BV (Netherlands).

Hubbard is a world leader in the development and marketing of improved broiler breeding stock. Hubbard specializes in state-of-the-art methods (both traditional and new technologies) of improving the breeding of their pure lines for broilers, in order to respond to current and future needs of the industry.

Hubbard, with strong global representation, will operate autonomously within the Grimaud group and maintain its own identity continuing to trade under the name Hubbard, selling quality parent and grandparent stock broiler breeders to poultry producers and integrators world-wide under the Hubbard brands.

Frederic Grimaud, Chairman of Grimaud, stated, “We are delighted to welcome Hubbard to the Grimaud group as a major addition to our poultry breeding activities. The combination of Hubbard’s skills and technologies in poultry breeding with Grimaud’s technologies and complimentary skills in genetic selection will enable us to meet the current and future needs of the broiler industry”.

The newly created group positions itself as the leader in the speciality segment of the avian market (coloured chickens, ducklings, guinea fowls, rabbits, pigeons) and as one of the major players in the conventional broiler industry. With €150M revenues and 1,350 employees, it becomes the n°2 group in avian genetics worldwide and is located in the US (California, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, New Hampshire), Europe (France, Italy, Poland, Netherlands) and Asia (China, Malaysia, Thailand).

Hubbard management will report to CEO Dr. Stephane Duthoit, who has been appointed by Grimaud to lead the Hubbard Group.

Hubbard is also delighted to welcome Frederic Grimaud and Stephane Duthoit into the Hubbard family. “We are very pleased to have Grimaud joining forces with our existing Hubbard management and workforce globally. Together we will maximise the value we will bring to all Hubbard employees and Hubbard customers, as this is opening new frontiers into the future”.

Details of the transaction will not be disclosed.

About Grimaud

With passion, via its breeding and incubation business, the Grimaud group has developed, during its 35 year history, 3 complementary activities: the genetic selection of quality avian and rabbit species, the reproduction of ducklings and rabbits, and biotechnology to service Health and agro-industry.

Human resources, investment, research, international approach and quality are the fundamental values of the enterprise that continues to expand on a global scale.

World leader in the duckling’s genetic selection (second most important avian species in the world), with a very successful approach in the Chinese market, Grimaud group has always been ahead of research by investing very early in biotechnologies.

For more information, please see www.grimaud.fr.

About Hubbard

Hubbard is a world leader in the development and marketing of improved broiler breeding stock for already 85 years. The company provides poultry solutions that focus on the performance, health and well-being of breeding stock. Hubbard specializes in state-of-the-art methods that improve the breeding of their pure lines for broilers, in order to respond to current and future needs of the industry.

Hubbard currently operates their selection programs and own production sites in North America & Europe and has a longstanding experience in breeding, developing and marketing breeding stock for both the conventional and the alternative markets

Local presence in a lot of countries, with the support of dedicated teams involved in R&D, Production, Technical Service and Sales & Marketing assure the continuity to deliver products that suit best to the different broiler markets throughout the world.

Source: Hubbard - 4th April 2005